Life cycle assessment and life cycle cost analysis for airfield pavement: a review article

Airfield pavement is responsible of airport operations' safety, it must provide durability, sustainability, good quality of riding, a good surface of friction, and a good bearing capacity. The increase in air traffic, the continuous ground handling vehicle operations on the airfield, the aging of the pavement, and the effects of the environment lead to pavement structures deteriorating and having a shorter design lifetime, which can harm aircraft. Several organizations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), (DOC. 9137-AN/898, Part 2 and Part 9, Airports Services Manual, 2002 and Annex 14, Volume 1, Aerodromes, 2020), and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Advisory Circulars (150/5380-6B, Guidelines and Procedures for Maintenance of Airport Pavements and 150/5320-17) recommend routine inspection and ongoing maintenance of airfield pavement. Airfield pavement maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) are necessary to extend pavement life and guarantee the safety of aircraft and air navigation, but they have a significant effect on airside capacity; therefore, airport operations may be disrupted. Furthermore, M&R expenses are very high. In developing countries, a lack of funding may result in pavement deterioration and a delay in pavement maintenance and repair, which could raise maintenance costs. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) approaches are tools that can help decision-makers determine the optimal solution when comparing different alternatives. This review article summarizes the previously reported studies related to airfield capacity, the evaluation of pavement conditions, and the necessity for rehabilitation based on LCA and LCCA approaches using different methods (e.g., quantifying energy consumption of pavement, effect of postponing pavement maintenance, selecting different analysis period, etc.), and different software such as SimaPro, AirCost, etc.